Capstone Impact Update: Austen Stovall Unlocking FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Funding for Coral Reef Restoration

Working with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Dr. Mike Beck’s Coastal Resilience Lab, and Earth Economics (now Radbridge), Austen completed a feasibility study using Maui, Hawaii as a case study for unlocking FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation funding for coral restoration.

Read the report: Unlocking FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Funding for Coral Reef Restoration: A Feasibility Study in Maui, Hawaii

Climate change poses severe threats to coastal communities and the ecosystems on which they depend. Warming ocean temperatures increase the magnitude and frequency of storm and coral bleaching events, allowing less time for recovery amidst these threats. Coral reefs complex and stable structure protects against natural hazards by reducing 97% of wave energy, resulting in less coastal flooding onshore. Coral reef restoration is a potentially effective hazard mitigation action to reduce risks to people and property. Traditionally, active coral restoration aims to return coral reef ecosystems to a thriving state, with the goal of increased species and genetic diversity. The same methods can be used to serve as a hazard mitigation strategy in the form of coral reef restoration for risk reduction (CR4). The authors of this report assessed the feasibility of accessing federal hazard mitigation dollars for CR4 by selecting a U.S. coral jurisdiction within FEMA Region 9. They evaluated the technical feasibility, community buy-in, and cost-effectiveness of CR4 projects at 15 sites on Maui, analyzed the flood reduction benefits of coral reefs using FEMA’s Flood Assessment Structure Tool (FAST), and conducted a preliminary benefit-cost analysis. The findings help advance this nature-based solution for use in Hawaii and other coastal communities.